Open Thread: Curtis Granderson’s E:60

I mentioned Curtis Granderson‘s appearance on ESPN’s E:60 last week, and now the video is up online. I can’t embed it unfortunately, so you’ll have to go here to watch it, which I strongly recommend. The eight minute or so video looks a little bit at Curtis’ upbringing but mostly discusses his relationship with the family of Brian Bluhm, who was killed in the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007. Bluhm was a Tigers fan and a Granderson fan, and he was a regular on the baseball blogosphere just like you and me. Give it a watch, it’s a bit of a somber story with a heartwarming ending.

Once you’re done watching the video, use this as your open thread. The ESPN Sunday Night Game has the Braves at the Reds with an interesting pitching matchup. Personal fave Brandon Beachy (10.13 K/ and 1.88 uIBB/9) gets the ball for Atlanta while the reanimated corpse of Dontrelle Willis (!!!) goes for Cincy. Talk about the game or whatever else your heart desire. You know what to do, so have at it.

You know if we brought back Wang and he was positioned right behind Colon in the rotation…

Oh, hell, I can’t even attempt this off-color joke.

Accent Shallow

I wish CMW nothing but the best.

http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/ Steve S.

+1

JobaWockeeZ

Agreed. Amazing how he kept a low ERA with one of the worst defenses ever. Imagine if he didn’t suck in 2009. That could possibly be 1998 esque.

Mark

Always good to see the D-Train back in the majors. I remember being so excited for some reason, think it was the high leg kick, when he first came up beating Randy Johnson when he was with Arizona.

Urban

Hopefully one day he can figure out how to pitch like he did previously. A rapid fall from grace for a lefty pitcher so young.

Phife Dawg

D-Train was always a personal non-Yankee fave of mine. He seemed like a pretty chill guy off the field and I always used to go in my backyard and imitate that funky wind-up motion. I remember the game he pitched against the Yanks last year when he was with the D-backs and feeling so bad for him (I think he had 8 walks or something like that). He’s just one of those guys for who it would be nice to see turn into a somewhat reliable starter again.

first time lawng time

That first inning, I remember, was so funny at first, but then I started to feel bad for him. Poor guy couldn’t find the zone.

http://www.youcantpredictbaseball.com bexarama

I’ve always been a fan of his. Watching that game he pitched against the Yankees last year when he was on Arizona was soooo painful because he was just AWFUL.

first time lawng time

Is D train Dontrelle Willis?

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

Yep.

boogie down

Yes.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

I remember that. I felt so bad for him. I’m pretty sure the D-Backs ended up winning that game though.

first time lawng time

No. It went into extras. Grandy hit a home run, Rivera actually had an at bat and it was funny because the dugout was laughing and messing around. Then Rivera loaded the bases with no outs and got a pop up pop up strikeout to end it and Cervelli gave an extreme fist pump.

And in the interview with Kim Jones, Rivera was like “We played horrible. That’s unacceptable.
And the next day on Francesaa, Francessa was flipping a shit at the Yankees laughing and having fun in the dugout when Rivera was hitting.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Ohhh, ok. Now I remember, the only game the Diamondbacks won in that series was the one where Dan Haren started.

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

No, the game they won was the first game where AJ gave up like a 5 spot in the first inning.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

My memory has failed me.

Pat D

Yea, I remember Mikey getting so riled up for that. As if the Yankees knew Mo would almost blow it in the next inning. He was making too much out of a little thing, as per his usual shtick.

I mean, I’m sure he’ll be all over DRob and Mo tomorrow for almost blowing today’s game.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Mike Francesa likes Inge. He likes him a lot. He would be interested in Inge.

first time lawng time

Also, the only game they lost that series was the first one.

The one with Dontrelle was the rubber game with Javy pitching. And Javy pitched pretty poorly that game as well IIRC

http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/ Steve S.

Everybody loved Dontrelle, and its weird to think he’s still just 29 years old.

Jack Merridew

We need another starter. Why we’re even talking about getting right handed relievers is perplexing. We already have Wade, DRob, Soriano, and Mo. Right now you wouldn’t want Phil or AJ starting in the playoffs and Freddy would be the #3 starter. That may get us past the 1st round but not past Boston.

Anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs, especially the short best-of-five DS’s. Boston has a fantastic offense but as we saw in 2006 and 2007 (the Yankees scoring near 950 runs those years) even the best offenses can be shut down by good enough pitching. If Boston faces Detroit Verlander could match up with Beckett nicely and Porcello and Scherzer could end up pitching out of their minds, you never know! I admit Boston is the favorite to represent the AL in the World Series this year but nobody is a lock.

Accent Shallow

Eh. Another starter would be nice, but I don’t think it’s a necessity.

Unfortunately, Hughes’ long stint off means they either have to rely on him to regain his form, or treat him as an unknown, and acquire someone else.

I trust Burnett over Garcia, solely because Burnett has the raw stuff.

Gumbs gum

Great for Montero….but we have a 39 yr old DH rockin a .225 average. No need for his hot bat.

We are scared he might throw another tantrum if we think of benching him.

Monteroisdinero

40 in August. We are handcuffed by the 13M we owe Jorge. Gotta get something out of all that cash.

Cervelli on the other hand…..

first time lawng time

I want Montero up, but IDK how they could balance the catching and DH among Montero, Martin, and Jorge.

They’ll want to Give Montero as many at bats as possible, but they’ll need to use the DH for Jorge and for giving players half a day off.

I just don’t know how they could fit him in

YankeesJunkie

Montero could probably catch 2 times a week and get another couple games at DH a week. However, this season it seems really tough to get him everyday unless they decide and make Montero the primary DH which while the right move will doubtfully happen with Posada making his 13 mil.

yankee_lover

we need 2 move jesus up already lol

YankeesJunkie

Mike and Joe made a good point on their podcast that they probably won’t call up Montero till at least after the trade deadline. However, after that all bets off I will become very cranky about Montero.

MikeD

I think Posada’s time is coming to an end. Well, of course it’s coming to an end, but I can see his time reduced quite a bit the last month, with ABs going Montero’s way if he’s still here next week.

Jesus is coming…or he’s going. : -)

boogie down

Just finished watching The Wire. Definitely the best show ever made.

Jack Merridew

It really is. So many great characters- Bunk, Lester, Bubbles, Prop Joe. I loved Homicide Life on the Street as well, just about to start reading David Simon’s book.

GRGOYLDEF@

Another great book to read if you like his stuff is The Corner. They followed a group of people for a year in Baltimore. The best part about the book though is the chapters on his thoughts on the war on drugs. Some of the smartest analysis of what we have done wrong that I’ve ever read.

Esteban

Yep. Best show ever. Some really great quotes too.

“I got the shotgun you got the briefcase but it’s all in the game right”

boogie down

That moment was priceless, as was the “Fuck” investigation.

http://www.seanorr.tumblr.com Engelbert

Here’s a great mash-up of The Wire and Trailer Park Boys (best Canadian television show in history. Watch it if you haven’t already.)

I don’t think either guy, unless they’re going to finally hold Jack Z accountable for the disaster that is Chone Figgins.

ItsATarp

Taking Smoak over Montero might also look like shit in the future. Smoak hasn’t been able to hit a beachball in the majors.

Accent Shallow

And Montero has yet to debut in the majors. Sure, if he turns into the Venezuelan Frank Thomas, that will be ugly for Seattle, but who knows?

Monteroisdinero

How bout that Noony in the 8th inning? Single on a tough pitch after a ball is thrown behind his head. Steals third and then scoots home on Jeter’s grounder to short. Impressive and a big run as it turned out in the scary 9th inning. I like that he is not afraid to fail. No errors as well-before all the bashing comes in now…

first time lawng time

I actually like him. I don’t understand all the hate, especially since he’s a replacement player.

Phife Dawg

Nunez is suddenly gaining a Melky Cabrera cult-like following. Both are nothing special offensively (neither can hit for much power)and horrendous defensively. A few clutch hits here and there doesn’t make up for the suckitude and meh-ness.

Pat D

Melky has almost as many homers as ARod this year.

Tee hee.

first time lawng time

I loved Melky! He was such a cutie.

YankeesJunkie

Pleasantly surprised by his offensive ability and nice running skills. However, every positive he has give offensively his errant arm has taken back and then some. He has a -30 UZR/150 and the most errors on the Yankees in not nearly the same amount time. He could be a useful back/mediocre starter if he fixes the throwing problems, but if he does not he will have to be moved to the OF where his arm won’t be such a liability.

MikeD

I’m not sure he has what it takes to be a good back-up player. He’s not sound defensivly and seems to have poor instincts. I can see him being the starting SS for a second-division club where he could work on improving his game. In other words, he’s not really a good fit for the Yankees.

Brian S.

Yeah Nunez has been great this year. He hits ropes.

first time lawng time

The Red Sox have played .712 ball since mid May? WTF

Phife Dawg

Playing the Orioles, Mariners, and Astros are gonna do that to ya. They also play the Royals next.

Fun Fact: Through 99 games, the Red Sox have an aggregate run differential of +127. Through an equal 99 games, the Yankees have an aggregate run differential of +128.

Boston’s record in one-run games is 12-9. The Yankees is 12-15. Good teams certainly tend to win one-run games at a slightly higher rate than poorer teams, but one-run games are much more influenced by luck than games with higher margins of victory.

The Red Sox being a mere three games better than the Yankees through an equal number of games with identical run differentials and the entirety of the W/L discrepancy between the teams fitting inside the set of one-run games would indicate that the Red Sox are not necessarily the “best” team in the AL, but perhaps just the Yankees equal (but slightly luckier).

Kramerica Industries

Volatility and variance noted, I think that the 8-1 mark Boston has against the Yankees right now is what tips the scales in their favor.

Over the last nine, I certainly expect the Yankees to do better. Hell, expectations-wise, I’ll be disappointed if they don’t win at least five of the nine games.

But as far as what we currently have to work with, I think the head-to-head results would indicate the Red Sox are the better team.

And the head-to-heads don’t matter even if they DO meet each other in October as well. The Sox can go 18-1 against the Yankees and they still don’t get a single headstart in an ALCS.

Jimmy McNulty

See, this is what people like Porter Stansberry say. They say things, that while technically true, are irrelevant and aren’t really based in reality. If the Red Sox go 18-1 against the Yankees, and then meet in the ALCS, I think we all know who the favorites are. If you’re honestly telling me that you would still feel confident going into a seven game series with a team that they wer 1-18 against prior to the season then you’re an idiot. Likewise, if the Yankees were to go 18-1 against the Red Sox in the regular season any Yankee fan would feel EXCELLENT about the ALCS.

Jimmy McNulty

Agreed. But the non-head-to-head results would indicate the Yankees are the better team, so… perhaps they cancel each other out.
And perhaps the 9 game head-to-head sample size offers less predictive relevance than the 90-game non-head-to-head sample size. Hard to tell…

No, this isn’t the way to approach this. You’re needlessly separating the season of a team. You’re taking away nine of the best games that one team has played and nine of the worst games that the other team has played. That’s “batshit insane” as you would say. It’s baseball, teams go through streaks, good and bad. You have to take the season as an aggregate barring something that actually changed. e.g. the 2009 Yankees can fairly be judged pre and post A-Rod’s return. Anytime a team loses it’s best player, or one of it’s best players, for an extended period of time you can safely assume that the way that they played without him is probably worse than the way that they’ll with him and therefore less indicative of how good the team actually is than the games they played with their best player.

first time lawng time

You’re taking away nine of the best games that one team has played and nine of the worst games that the other team has played.

The funny thing is that there was a great debate a few days ago when someone suggested looking at Jeter’s stats after the first innning and that it was stupid to judge something if you take away all the positives or negatives.

Actually, it’s the exact opposite. I’m not the one “needlessly separating the season of a team”, other people are doing that (when they extract the 9 non-consecutive games the Yankees have played against the Red Sox and hold them up as more worthwhile than the other 90 or the total 99).

I’m not the one ignoring that “It’s baseball, teams go through streaks, good and bad”, and assuming that the Yankees-Red Sox head to head is something other than simply a streak, good or bad.

I’m the one here who’s looking at it from the largest, most macro view possible and noticing that the teams are virtually identical (three games different in the W/L column out of 99, identical run differential).

first time lawng time

But since they’re virtually identical on a macro scale, I feel it would be important to look at the head to head matchups, which show Boston as the better team.

The reason you give more weight to the macro scale than the micro scale is that the macro scale is a larger sample size that offers more predictive value. You have two conflicting pieces of data: a 9 game sample that says the Sox are way, way, way, way, way better than the Yankees, and a 99 game sample that says they’re pretty identical.

That 99 game sample is more reliable than the 9 game sample. Since they’re virtually identical on a macro scale, it’s actually LESS important to look at the head-to-head matchup, because it’s intrinsically going to be more prone to variance and give you false information (since it’s just a tenth of the data set).

Whatever the 9-game head to head tells you should be overwhelmed in your reliability analysis by the 90-game non-head-to-head and most importantly the 99-game complete set.

first time lawng time

The hea to head match ups, at the end ofthe season, will show you how the two teams do against eachother. So, if they’re 9-9, then you could probably expect a 7 game series. If Boston turns out to go 17-1 vs NY, then, regardless of their records, Boston would have the edge in the CS, because they’ve done well against NY,

Jimmy McNulty

You’re separating games needlessly, the Red Sox outplayed the Yankees in the competitions that they’ve had so far. They were better on paper in the before the season, and they’ve been better at the head to head match up. Those nine games counted just as much as any other nine games that they’ve played, why treat them any differently in this “macro” “topdown” analysis?

FIPster Doofus

Maybe I’m underrating the Yankees and/or overrating the Red Sox, then. I’m just not particularly enamored with this Yankees team relative to past ones.

I’m just not particularly enamored with this Yankees team relative to past ones.

Neither am I. Here’s the thing, though; none of the past Yankee teams are playing in the 2011 Major League Baseball Championship Season. Neither are any of the past teams of any of the other 29 franchises in the sport.

All that matters is how the 2011 Yankees stack up to the 2011 Red Sox/Rays/Tigers/Indians/White Sox/Rangers/Angels/Phillies/Braves/Cardinals/Brewers/Pirates/Reds/Giants/Diamondbacks/Rockies.

FIPster Doofus

Word.

Jimmy McNulty

Please, that’s just a truism, I bet Pirates fans feel a lot better about their team this year than they did the past few years, same for the Phillies, Red Sox, and other teams. This team isn’t as good as they were in the past. You can look at the standings and the stat columns to see how they have stacked up so far this season.

You can look at the standings and the stat columns to see how they have stacked up so far this season.

And when you do that, you find that the Yankees are just as good (and often better) than the Red Sox, Rangers, Phillies, etc. Not demonstrably worse, as you constantly claim.

2011 is all that matters to 2011.

Jimmy McNulty

Demonstrably just means capable of being demonstrated. Which, so far, the Red Sox and the Phillies have been with a quick look at the win/loss columns. You can say that the Red Sox are definitively better, which I think they are, but that doesn’t mean that the gap is the same between say the Red Sox and some crappy team. They’re the better team, that’s what bothers me. Not how much better they are, but simply that they’re better.

Jimmy McNulty

You know how I feel about this. I think the Red Sox are better, there isn’t much of a question in my mind about this. I don’t know how much better the Red Sox are, though. The gap shouldn’t be too hard to close…if the Yankees got Ubaldo, they’re the better team, Danks and they’re about equal with a slight edge to the Yankees. I’d say Boston’s about a win or two better than the Yankees.

Yeah, Cincy probably comes out way ahead. Sorry I didn’t list it, Fangraphs doesn’t conveniently put it all in one column and I didn’t feel like doing more legwork.

Jimmy McNulty

Yeah, I had that feeling. Joe Morgan was a monster in 75/76, fWAR tends to love offense from the skills position players. I think they still have Pedroia as one of the five most valuable players in baseball, which I think is complete bullshit, so I figured they’d love Morgan and Bench. Morgan’s 75 or 76 was better than any singular year that Mays had. I guess if they had UZR data then he’d probably eclipse a ten fWAR season.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Bobby Valentine and crew were having orgasms over the Big Red Machine and all of their hall of famers. The 1975 and ’76 teams were great, no doubt. But not as great as the 1998, 1927, 1961, or 1939 Yankees.

Pat D

The 1975 Reds had two good starting pitchers and 4 mediocre to bad ones. They did have 4 pretty good relievers.

It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I would always take the 1998 Yankees over the 1975 Reds. The Yankees had that many good bullpen arms, and they had 3 very good starters and 2 good ones (yes, even Irabu).

Kramerica Industries

Kurkjian was only talking about the Reds relative to historically great NL teams.

Pat D

Quite frankly, the historically great NL teams don’t stand up to the historically great AL teams.

Kramerica Industries

There’s a reason why the AL has about 20 more World Series titles to their credit.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Does that reason start with New York and end with Yankees?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Pat D

Oh, and the Big Red Machine was pretty overrated, really. The only difference between them and the ’90’s Braves, in terms of results, is that they won twice.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Fun fact: the Big Red Machine got to the World Series 4 times. The 90’s Braves got to the World Series 5 times.

Pat D

Kind of proves my point, I guess.

It wasn’t really The Big Red Machine till Morgan and Geronimo got there in that big trade, though, so you could even throw out 1970.

But losing to the Mets in 1973 and not even getting past the Dodgers in 1974? Kind of embarassing, right? Also a little ironic that they trade for a great pitcher in 1977, but their run was actually over.

tom

I’m glad to hear you say this, because I always thought the trajectory of the Braves in the early 90s was eerily similar to that of the Reds in the 70s, and if they’d finished off the ’96 Series the way they started it, the parallel would have been striking. Both teams lost their first two World Series (’70 and ’72 for the Reds, ’91 and ’92 for the Braves — each advancing to the second one with a dranatic ninth inning rally, n both cases shocking the Pirates); lost the following year’s Championship Series to a team no one thought their equal (’73 Mets, ’93 Phillies — both of whom lost their series); skipped a year (the Reds to the Dodgers in ’74, the Braves to the strike in ’94 — though they trailed the Expos in the division when the strike hit); finally winning a hard-fought series and (had the Braves not been shocked by the Yanks’ comeback) dominated in the following one.

Craig

Is RotoInfo legit? Bc according to them, Mariners scouts have been looking at NY for the possibility of mOving Vargas or Bédard.

FIPster Doofus

Vargas + Yankee Stadium = great potential for ugliness.

Dropped Third Superstar

Was at the game today. Laird made a few nice plays and hit the ball hard a few times. I was impressed with Nunez as well. Don’t know why he has been getting so much hate lately. Tex looks AWFUL at the plate. He’s off balance, and making weak contact. Without arod in the lineup it would be nice to see some extra production, or any for that matter from our 3 hitter.

Monteroisdinero

Noony’s throwing has been terrible and he has made a few other mental errors but he has ridiculous upside for what/who he is and costs. Speed is so nice to have. With Gardy/Nunez/Grandy alot of good things can happen just from beating out dp grounders/taking the extra base/stealing and hustling on D. As for Laird, how would he do in a race against Swish and Posada?

http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

Gardy/Nunez/Grandy

One of these things is not like the other.

first time lawng time

Gardy because he’s white?

MikeD

Come on Steve H. Nunez is faster than Jorge Posada, a near HOFer; he has more range than Derek Jeter, a future HOFer; he may have a stronger arm than Mariano Rivera, a future HOFer.

The man is Gold. Gold, I tell you.

Dropped Third Superstar

Faster than posada but around swishes speed… but if he hits anything close at the show to what he put up last year…. his speed wont matte

Kramerica Industries

So, anybody buying Texas as a legit threat to win the American League again?

It took them a long time to get going, but they are really friggen good right now.

Jack Merridew

The only legitimate threats to win the AL are Boston and New York. If Texas was in the AL East they’d finish 4th. We destroy Ogando, destroy Holland, with A-Rod our lineup is much better than theirs.

Kramerica Industries

Texas > Tampa

The Rays’ offense is abominable, negating any margin they have over the Rangers in terms of pitching.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Their offense is still top tier, but their rotation is meh. CJ Wilson could hold his own against CC, but the Yankees have mashed Ogando and Holland this year. Also considering the Yankees are 7-2 against them this year, I like their chances against the Rangers in a 5 or 7 game series.

JobaWockeeZ

Meh if we’re going by one start then the Red Sox mashed Hughes, mashed Burnett, did fairly well against CC and mashed Garcia.

JobaWockeeZ

Just kidding CC got mashed too.

first time lawng time

The ony starter to have beaten Boston this year:

My number one man, Ivan Nova.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

I thought AJ was your number one man?

first time lawng time

Ehh I love AJ, but that’s more for like moral support. I love Nova. He seems cool and funny. He’s fun to watch succeed. I like his interviews…he always looks like he’s about to laugh.

Considering how well D-Rob has played throughout the season I am okay with this.

first time lawng time

Even better! He’s my favorite pitcher among relievers and starters!

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

We’re not talking about the Red Sox. They’re a better team than the Yankees anyway. They did mash Hughes, Burnett, Garcia, and did fairly well against CC. And would likely do it again in the ALCS. But anything can happen in the postseason.

The Rangers are not as big of a threat without Cliff Lee, and the Yankees have have mashed both Ogando and Holland on multiple occasions this year.

YankeesJunkie

Agreed at this point the Yanks and the Red Sox are the creme of the crop of the AL. While a lot people may not look to a Red Sox-Yankee ALCS I think it should be a terrifying yet exciting week and a half.

first time lawng time

I can only imagine what this place would be like during a Yankees – Red Sox ALCS. Especially if they lost a game- or worse…the series.

Poor Greg. If the Red Sox ever beat the Yankees in the ALCS and went on to win the WS, I have a strong feeling Greg would lose it.

The poor guy gets so sad after very loss. I kinda feel bad for him

MikeD

Ha! He gets sad thinking about the Yankees losing, even when they’re winning.

JobaWockeeZ

The fact the Yankees mashed them does not mean that they will mash them again. If we’re going by this then we’re completely fucked in every future Red Sox game. It’s one start.

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

Fine.

But the Yankees have dominated the Rangers this season almost to the extent that the Red Sox have dominated the Yankees. Although I don’t expect that continue, it does give an idea of where these three teams are now. As does their respective records.

Red Sox: 62-37
Yankees: 59-40
Rangers: 58-44

Greg

I would look very very closely at Matt Garza. Never mind the record, he’s been screwed by the bullpen.

THe Cubs are out of it and Garza knows how to pitch in the playoffs and in the AL East

JobaWockeeZ

They paid a lot for Garza no? I doubt they give him up.

FIPster Doofus

Yeah. It’s gonna take way too much to acquire him. Forget it.

Dropped Third Superstar

Faster than posada but around swishes speed… but if he hits anything close at the show to what he put up last year…. his speed wont matter

Dropped Third Superstar

reply fail…

Craig

So who wins NL rookie of the year? Freeman or Kimbrel?

YankeesJunkie

Danny Espinosa if you go by fWAR. However, between Kimbrel and Freeman it has to be Kimbrel right now.

Jack Merridew

Season 8 of Curb started off slow but tonight’s episode was classic. The sex scene was awesome.